Runaway Virgins I recently purchased this brand new book entitled, Runaway Virgins by Enrique Corneiro. It is incredibly moving! Enrique shared over 250 slavery-related advertisements that he curated from the old Danish newspapers to help shine a light on what life was like for the enslaved people of the Danish West Indies, now the US Virgin Islands. More than 300 specific […]
Disasters
The Mystery of the Missing Crew in Anegada ~ 1921
Ocean Mysteries Tales of finding floating ships with sails fully set and no one on board have added to the bewildering mysteries of the sea. Interestingly, they are not as rare as one would imagine. The Marie Celeste A classic instance, of course, was that of the American merchant ship, Mary Celeste. In 1872, this well-manned […]
Remembering the RMS Rhone ~ 1867
Remembering the Rhone One of the most tragic hurricanes to ever befall the British Virgin Islands happened 151 years ago. The year was 1867. My great-great-grandfather was 9 years old. His name was Henry Osmond Creque. Six of his siblings along with his parents were huddled together for safety in a cramped, two-roomed cottage. It […]
See the Damage to the Creque Marine Railway After Hurricanes Irma and Maria
Before Hurricane Damage The Creque Marine Railway is a special, historic property that first became a part of our family’s holdings in 1910. While visiting over Christmas, I had the opportunity to see what Hurricanes Irma and Maria had done. Unfortunately, it became obvious that the building suffered significant damage. Most of the steam […]
Honoring Hurricane Heroes Past and Present
HMS Valkyrien ~ Crew Hurricane of 1916 Just over 100 years ago, a hurricane in October of 1916 tore through the Virgin Islands with a vengeance—leaving a path of destruction similar to hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017. 🌧 The damage was of historic proportions for its time and it left a lasting impression […]
How Crown House Survived the Hurricane of 1916
By Dr. Dante Beretta For every bad, there is a good. West Indian saying When the barometer reading steadily dropped and the weather turned ominous, island residents understood this as a foreboding sign. 💨 Our grandfather, George Beretta fastened the jalousies and shutters and made his last-minute preparations. The Berettas hunkered down in their family home, Crown […]
A Hurricane Prayer for the Protection of the Virgin Islands
After Hurricane Irma hit the Virgin Islands destroying everything in its path, I started to think about life differently. ⛈ No longer do I want to hold on to so many material things. I started perusing my file cabinet with a view to throwing as much as I could away. While sifting through […]
New Book Launched, Twice She Struck, The Story of RMS RHONE
New Book Launching I recently attended a fascinating presentation on the launching of a new book about the fate of the RMS RHONE ~ 1867 Congratulations to Dr. Mitch Kent on a well researched and beautifully presented timeline of actual events that occurred before and after the Rhone’s demise off Salt Island. I spent the […]